A New Threat
by DuchessofErat
Summary: I'm trying to get away from Mary Sues, but this might be just as bad- it's second-generation. Anyway, you thought Anakha ended with the Tamuli, right? Wrong. A new Anakha has been born to answer a new threat with a whole new slew of companions at his side


((Okay. I haven't finished the next chapter of Fate's Fortune because I'm out of ideas. (If I ever told you I knew what I was doing- I lied.) All I know is Sara's been mentally attacked and is currently comatose. Any ideas for the story, email me and let me know. In the meantime, I'm going to start this- A 2nd generation Elenium/Tamuli story. I've had this idea for much longer than Fate's Fortune, and I'd like to try it. I'd also like to give my friend Hildechan half credit-- Luthien and half of the other characters are her creations. Anyway, Ulath, Tynian, Khalad, Berit and Bevier's wives are all our creations- I'm responsible for Madelyne, Ariadne and Desdemona. H-chan is Jadyn, Aerona, and Cyrene's creator. Anyway. Here we go for now. The oldest characters (Cal and Luthien) in this story were born approximately a year after the Tamuli. ))  
  
It was warm inside the little house, the kind of house that's really a home. Two children sat on the floor- one with a pair of clear, ice blue eyes, and the other with a pair of brilliant emerald greens. There was something alluring about the green eyes, yes, but the ice-blues were the ones that spoke of ancient prophecy.  
  
Many believed Anakha, and all that the name implies, had been set aside on the day Klael fled Earth. They believed the Elder Gods ceased to be a threat after Azash had died. They believed in the death of a white-haired rogue Pandion. They believed that, finally, the world could get some rest.  
  
They were wrong.  
  
Anakha had not ceased to be on that fateful day in the Hidden City- he was reborn via a babe with eyes the color of ice. True enough that Azash had been destroyed, but another Elder God, a Goddess, had begun to stir from her slumber to extract revenge upon the world. To accomplish this end, she had plucked to soul of one called Martel from the very fires of Hell and forced him into her service in the guise of a shifty traveller.  
  
And the sleeping world is about to come to a terrifying awakening.  
  
~*~  
  
Luthien sighed, tilting back in his chair. He'd been sitting in the library for hours, waiting for Callina to make up her mind on what they were going to do, and now he was positively itching to move."Think of anything?" he asked for the millionth time.  
  
Callina, Luthien's lifelong friend and companion, shrugged. Cal was a pretty girl, Luthien supposed, or would be if she wasn't his friend. She had eyes of deep, deep green, and hair like fire, hair she had today pulled back into a graceless but tight bun to keep out of her eyes. "I dunno, what do you want to do?"  
  
Luthien growled. "I want to DO something." Cal looked to her friend, blinking. It was sort of amazing how much Luthien resembled his father- despite the fact that his long blonde hair had not been pulled back into a braid like his father's, his eyes were the same shade of brilliant blue.  
  
"Oh, for the love of the Church." Callina stood up, cursing as she stepped on the hem of her dress. "Damned skirt, I don't see the point of them," she complained as Luthien snickered. Shaking her head and glaring at her friend, Cal crossed her arms and spoke. "Perhaps we could go watch Dad and Ulath again.."  
  
Luthien smiled triumphantly at the mention of his father's name. "My dad'll beat yours again," he boasted, puffing out his chest. Cal shot him a withering look and poked him in the stomach, immediately deflating the young boy's torso and then began down the hall.   
  
The young pair headed through the halls of the Alcione chapterhouse in Chyrellos, the fading sunlight shining on their faces. Luthien and Callina had been together long as either could remember- Luthien's mother had been missing for the first year or so of his life, and Callina's mother had brought her daughter and husband all the way to Thalesia to help Luthien's father raise his newborn son.   
  
It hadn't been easy for Tynian to follow his wife to help Ulath take care of the newborn Luthien, but somehow he'd gotten leave from his preceptor to visit their Genedian brothers. Callina had been three or so months old at the time, and soon their family of three expanded to five as Ulath and Luthien joined them. Jadyn, Luthien's mother, had returned to her son and husband a year or so later, and everyone was so overjoyed to see her return that no questions regarding her absence were asked.  
  
Tynian and his family returned to Deira, but often one of the children would go and spend a summer or winter together at one's house, and they all made a yearly journey to Cimmura and a pilgrimage to Chyrellos together. Cal and Luthien were often together in the eleven years of their life thus far, often plotting ambushes for their parents or banging on each other with wooden swords.   
  
Lately, however, Cal's mother had started to put her daughter in dresses, though thankfully Madelyne didn't curtail the young girl's activities. Callina proved rather quickly that she could still climb trees, run, and beat up boys in a dress. Her mother didn't really care- so long as the girl did it in the clothing Madelyne made her wear.  
  
Luthien had it much easier. Ulath and Luthien were equally eager for the boy to become a Genidian knight, an eagerness shared by the rest of the old gang. Sparhawk and Tynian, having no sons of their own, had "adopted" the sons of their friends- Luthien, and Khalad's sons Kalen and Kurik. Luthien, however, was the oldest- and the best- of the three, immediately earning him a place in Church Knight ranks.  
  
As the two drew nearer to where their fathers were sparring, however, their attention was drawn to a window. Luthien looked to his friend, and Cal looked at him, daring him to make the move. Luthien nodded and walked over, looking out. "Aw, damn, Cal," he complained after a moment. "It's just Keiman."  
  
"Oh really?" Cal peered out the window and frowned. "Luthien, look."  
  
Luthien looked again down to his rival, a tall boy with jet black hair and cold green eyes. Keiman and Luthien had seemed to hate each other from the day they were born, often with Callina in the middle of things. Countless times the girl had broken a fight between the two, often by giving both combatants a black eye or a kick in the groin. No one crossed Cal- mostly because no boy dared hit a girl, especially one who hit back. "So what?" Luthien asked with a shrug. "I don't see anything besides his ugly face."  
  
  
  
Cal shook her head impatiently. "Not Keiman, you dolt, the man with him." She pointed, and Luthien followed her finger out the window, out to the person following Luthien's permanent irritation. An old-looking traveller trailed the boy, leaning upon a cane, a blindfold across one eye.   
  
"It's just an old blind beggar, Cal."  
  
"No it's not." Callina opened the window and reached into the bodice of her dress, pulling out a slingshot and a pebble. "Just watch." As Luthien wished he could hide things like that, Cal pulled back the pebble-armed slingshot and took aim. The pebble shot out as she fired, streaking down from the window to strike the blind man in the middle of the forehead.  
  
"Cal! You just hit a blind man, you're going to go to he-" Luthien was cut off, however, as the beggar ripped off the cowl on his head and pulled of the blindfold. Luthien stared as the man looked up to the window. The beggar seemed no older than Sparhawk, but where Sparhawk's hair was a salt-and-pepper color, the traveller's hair was pure white.  
  
"Martel," he whispered.  
  
~*~ 5 years later..... ~*~  
  
"For the love of the Church, Cal, aren't you ready yet?" Luthien grumbled, propping his feet up on the chair. "It's already been an hour!"  
  
"I'll be ready in a minute, Luthien!! How many times do I have to tell you??" Callina stood five feet away, her image obscured by a Cammorian silken wardrobe. She'd been dressing for a ball held in the Elenian court, a gathering of the most elite nobles of the Eosian continent. At sixteen, Cal had developed into a stunning girl- tall, slender, with fiery red hair and brilliant emerald eyes. She'd already had her share of suitors, most of which had received complimentary beatings from Luthien for obvious reasons.  
  
Luthien rolled his eyes at Cal's reply, muttering something impolite. "You're only going with Keiman," he grumbled, crossing his arms. "It's not like he's anyone important."  
  
  
  
Callina rolled her eyes. "Don't you like anyone I go out with?"  
  
"No," Luthien replied without hesitation.  
  
Callina let out a growl and pullled on her dress. The shadow of her through the wardrobe made Luthien's mouth go dry, and he silently berated himself as a flush crept across his cheeks. "Good God, Luthien, I swear, I'll end up an old maid because of you," she complained. "I haven't had a kiss since that time you beat up John from Demos."  
  
"Oh well," he said with a shrug. Personally, Luthien sort of wished Cal would stay home altogether. It was bad enough that she was going to the ball with someone else, but the fact that she was going with his archrival made the sting all the worse. "I don't see why you're going anyway."  
  
Callina pulled the wardrobe back, and Luthien saw the flash of hurt in her eyes at the sharpness of his words. He instantly regretted it, especially when he saw the gown she was dressed in. The velvet gown was of a deep green, an emerald color that matched her eyes perfectly. Her hair had been partially pulled back to reveal a slender neck, and gold brocade decorated the bodice of the fabric dream. Luthien nearly had to hold his chin up with his hand to keep his mouth from falling open.  
  
Callina, however, must have been oblivious to his astonishment, for she spoke in clipped tones as she grabbed her gloves and pulled them on. "Keiman will be here soon," she said, slipping her fingers into the thing. "Try and act civilized, will you?"  
  
"No problem," Luthien retorted. Cal stopped in her tracks, and the two regarded each other for a long moment. Lately they'd been growing further and further apart, a fact due mostly to Luthien's triumph in becoming a Genidian knight. The two hadn't spent a summer together since their eleventh year, and they only saw each other sporadically throughout the last five years. Luthien's eyes were silently accusing, and Callina's fearlessly challenged him to say something. Finally there was a knock at the door, and Cal turned away.  
  
"I'll see you," was all she said to Luthien as she walked out the door, taking Keiman's arm. The black-haired man murmured something to her, and Cal nodded. She headed to the carriage as Keiman detached his arm from hers and stepped inside.  
  
"You lose," he said to Luthien with a smirk. "I'm going to marry that girl out there, you know- just so you'll never have the chance."  
  
Luthien balled his fist. "Say that one more time, Keiman," he growled.   
  
Keiman simply flashed Luthien a smile before following Callina out the door.  
  
((All right, chapter one. It's not as good as I would like it to be, but hopefully I can get it all worked out. I actually know what I'm doing with this story, though, so beware. ^^ Review and let me know. Oh, and by the way- PLEASE HELP ME WITH F's F!! ::Sniffle:: Ok.. I'm gonna go now.. I wuvish you all and I'm sorry it's taken me so long!!)) 


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